Prosecutors in Alameda County, California, have charged Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, with murder in the shooting death of their son-in-law, New York Times executive Jonathan McKinsey, 40. The District Attorney’s Office alleges the couple killed him by “lying in wait” in a planned ambush at the Dublin Sports Grounds parking lot.
Multiple 911 callers reported gunfire before a Dublin Police Services sergeant arrived and found McKinsey with multiple gunshot wounds. Witnesses directed officers to a black Honda Civic leaving the scene, and police conducted a high-risk traffic stop nearby. Court documents say Chen was driving and Zhang was in the passenger seat.
Three witnesses identified Chen and Zhang as the shooters, and surveillance video allegedly shows the pair firing “in concert” on McKinsey. Police say the shooting took place with “blatant disregard for public safety” in a crowded lot where children were present.
According to court documents, Zhang later admitted to investigators that he shot McKinsey. Police also recovered a second gun that Zhang allegedly admitted using in the killing.
A father’s plea, weeks before the shooting
Days before the killing surfaced publicly, a Facebook exchange emerged showing McKinsey’s father, William Finney II, urging his son to visit. McKinsey had posted a smiling photo of himself on Sept. 7, and Finney commented underneath it.
“Jon, hope everything is going well. Hope you can visit us when you have some free time. Mom and Dad love you so much and miss you. Hope everything goes well with you and Candice and the kids.”
Less than three weeks later, McKinsey was dead.
A divorce, custody fight, and competing abuse claims
McKinsey’s death came in the middle of a bitter divorce and child custody dispute with his estranged wife, Candice Jang, along with competing domestic violence cases. Court records show McKinsey filed for divorce in December. KTVU reported the couple had been married 14 years and were living apart, with Jang holding sole legal and physical custody of their three children.
Jang obtained a temporary restraining order against McKinsey in October 2025. About a week before that order was set to expire, McKinsey sought his own restraining order against her, alleging she physically and emotionally abused him on a weekly basis and mistreated their children.
“I truly believe that she would hurt or even kill them if she believed there was any possibility of me having the children in my custody and care,” McKinsey wrote in a declaration reviewed by KTVU.
McKinsey, a transgender man, also described conflict with his in-laws in court filings. He accused Chen of directing anti-LGBTQ slurs at his son and at him when he intervened, and accused Zhang of striking him in the chest while he was recovering from double mastectomy surgery in 2010. He also alleged Jang once forced him to eat a dead cockroach and struck him with a frying pan.
Jang, in her own protection order request, alleged McKinsey physically and emotionally abused her, their children and her parents, and asked the court to keep him away from all of them.
“He can be vindictive, and I worry he will retaliate against me and the people listed above,” she wrote.
Jang also wrote that she had slept with a pair of scissors near her bed for protection in 2021.
Separately, prosecutors charged McKinsey in October with two misdemeanor counts alleging he struck his 6-year-old son and left his 2-year-old child home alone while shopping, according to KTVU. McKinsey denied intentionally leaving the toddler alone, arguing in court filings that Jang had orchestrated the situation to frame him.
Court dockets reviewed by Fox News Digital showed multiple hearings scheduled in the months ahead, including a family law status conference set for Oct. 2 and a three-day domestic violence restraining order hearing scheduled for December. Despite the ongoing disputes, a judge had approved unsupervised public visits between the couple’s three children and McKinsey.
Unresolved questions
Police served a search warrant at Jang’s home Tuesday night. Authorities have not disclosed what investigators were seeking. It was not immediately clear as of Thursday whether Zhang or Chen had retained attorneys. Fox News Digital reached out to McKinsey’s family and to Jang but did not receive a response.
